Vegetable-fiber composition and process of making same



G. A. HENDERSON. VEGETABLE FIBER COMPOSITION AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.APPLICATION FILED NOV; 30, I915.

1,370,647, Patented Mar 8, 1921.

CNITEDAKSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. HENDERSON, OF S'1.'ALBANS, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO '1. S.CLARK,

OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA. I

. VEGETABLE-FIBER COMPOSITION AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Batented' Mar. 8, 19212 Application filed November 30, 1915. Serial No.64,285.

7 all whom it may concern:

. appertains to make and use the same.

The primary object in view is the effective impregnation of ve etablefiber with preservative material or producing a durable and eificientcompound especially well adapted for paving and like purposes. 7

A further object in view is the expanding of the voids or interstices ofvegetable fiber by the actions of cooking, heating and treating thefiber, and of driving out the moisture ,therefrom closely followed bythe introduction thereinto of a preserving material of a binding naturewhereby such fiber is caused to be impregnated to its maximum capacitytherewith.

These and other objects, such as will hereinafter in part be set forthand in part become obvious, are attained in the carrying out of theprocess hereinafter specified; which process may most readily bedisclosed in conjunction with a statement of operation of an apparatusespecially adapted for the carrying out of the process, such asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which, I

'Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of such apparatus, I

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the planes indicated by line 2-2 ofFig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig, 3 is an enlarged, detail, fragmentary plan view of the conteyerbelt and trough, parts of the belt being broken away for disclosing thetrough, and intermediate por tions of each being broken out for thesaving of space. I 1

' Referring to the drawing by numerals, 1 is a cooker or boiler, heatedby steam pipes 2 and having a hopper bottom terminating in a dischargeopening controlled bythe rotary gate 3 which is adapted to delivermaterial from the container 1 into the trough 4 and onto the endlessconveyer belt 5."

t appropriate points in the length of the trough 4 there are arrangedpresser rollers 6, 6 beneath which material from tank 1 is designed tobe conveyed for having moisture expressed therefrom prior to thedischarge of such material from the terminus of conveyer 5. The trough4andconveyer belt 5 are fdraminated for allowin liquid, pulp and finesolids such as would produce impalpable powder to pass therethrough andto fall into atank or container 7 arranged beneath the trough 4. Adraining plate 8 extends from tank 7 for the balance of the length oftrough 4 beyond the tank. Attached to the under side of cooker or boiler1 may be a drainage pipe (not shown) for removal of the sap and essencesfrom the cooker from time to time.

- A heater is provided consiming of a housing 9 having a' stack orexhaust opening 9' at its upper portion and at its'lower portion havin agas or other appropriate furnace 10. ested within the housing 9 is ahollow vat or container 11 which is spaced from the walls of the housing9 and arranged just above the furnace 10 so that the-products .ofcombustion therefrom are designed to. pass freely allabout the container11. The container or drum 11 is open ended, having an intake opening 12at one end into which is delivered the materials discharging from theend of the trough 4, which intake opening may be equipped with a rotarygate such as gate 3 in Fig. 1. Stationed between intake opening 12 andbelt 5 and delivery chute 13 may be measuring tanks for the purposeshereinafter de- -throughout the drum 11. .Propeller blades 16 arecarried-by the shaft, said blades being fixed to the shaft at intervalsalong the same in position for slowly feeding the material within the-drum along the same from the intake 12 toward the discharge endthereof. Gearing 17 driven'by motor 18 is provided for actuating theshaft 15 and its propellers. At the upper part of the discharge end ofdrum 11, the vapor discharge .pi e 20 communicates with the drum, and alower or fan 19 is arranged in pipe 20 and is adapted to be actuated fordrawing steam or other gas from within the drum 11 and for effecting aforced discharge thereof, thus tending to create a vacuum within thedrum 11. A discharge chute 21 is arranged to receive material dischargedcube whose thickness is that of the particles up to three quarters of aninch in length,

and approximately one quarter of an inch wide, the object of thisoperation being the uniform impregnation, and uniform heating of eacharticle without interfering substantially with the grading of theparticles, into various sizes from those the size of a cube from drum 11and the end of the drum is formed with an opening for permittingdischarge of material into chute 21. "A door 22 is adapted'to close saidopening when ever it is desirable to prevent discharge of materialtemporarily.

In carrying out my process, tank 1 is supplied with water and maintainedin a boiling condition. Vegetable materials are supplied to the tank andretained therein a length of time sufiicient for exhausting sap,

pith and all soft and pulpy substances from the vegetable materials, sothat the fibrous material is left with the pores or interstices expandedand cleared, but filled with water. The vegetable materials may be ofsuch rsof.

fibrous substances as straw, corn stalks or stigar cane, but I prefer toemplby themore nearly solid vegetable materialssuch as'thehard-woods,.the softest being chestnut. In instances where I use such'hard wood as beech, quebracho, fustic, maple and like woods of suchdensity and close grain, I prefer to shear the logs into thin sheets, ashereinafter described, in which operation, as a modified procedure in myprocess, the logs of wood are boiled in water a predetermined length oftime before being sheared into sheets, then ground into particles ashereinafter described, and in such-instances I rely, .for expansion. ofthe pores of, the particles,

and for thorough impregnation by abinding preservative, upon firstheating the particles, to expand them, then introducing the particlesinto a bath of hot asphalt, and maintaining them in such heatedcondition. until further expanded by such heat, and until' the openpores of the particles have become saturated. with the asphalt or otherpreservative binder. Whatever the material, the

' vegetable substance is comminuted before introduction into the tank 1,and in the instances ofv the use of the harder woods, I

preferably rotatea log positionedin en-' gagement with a knife forshearing off thin sheets, after the manner customary in making veneer,and then grind up the thin sheets thus produced into fragments ofirregular lengths and breadth, and say an average ofa thirty-second ofan inch in thickness.

whose thickness .is that of the particles up to approximately threequarters of an inch in length, by the use of screens, not shown in thedrawings, so that the smaller particles will, as nearly as may be, fillthe voids between the larger ones, thus insuring further density of thecompleted, compressed product. Y

In the instance where theifibrous substances have their pores andinterstices filled with water from the cooker, they are discharged "bygate 3 onto belt 5, and the'pulpy substances removed from the fiber byboiling or saturation are delivered also onto belt 5. The fiber iscarried along the belt and discharged into intake 12, but some of itsmoisture, impalpable dust and pulpy matter is drained through the beltand trough 4 down into tank 7 The rollers 6 serve to express most of themoisture from the fiber before its remaining moisture driven out, whichresults in expanding and opening the pores or interstices in theparticles which had just previously beensomewhat contracted by thepressure rollers 6; Just as the moisture is discharging as steam fromthe fiber, the asphalt or other preservative and adhesive material indrum l1 enters the expanded and expanding pores of the fibers and fillsthe .sameonly in sufficient quantity to cause the fiber, (whensubsequently contracted as hereinafter explained, and compressed) tobecome thoroughly saturated with the perserving binder, and with justsuch excess thereof as may be sufficient to act'as a binder of the im-'pregnated and coated particles, care being The comminuted particles areof uniform thickness but vary in length and breadth quite materially,say from those the size of a,

taken that the percentage of preservativebinder shall be such thatwhenthe heated mixture has been compressed, and the particles of fiberhave been contracted to approxi- This heating operation may be an i matenormal size, as a result of the affinity of the molecules of asphalt orother heavy. preservative, for, each other, dur ng cooling,

there shall exist in the completed, combetween the particles, in theircompressed condition, and to bind them to each other. Hence. dependingupon the character of the wood or other vegetable matter, and theimpregnating and cementing agency selected, excellent results from myprocess are obtained by the adoption ,of the proportions of suchparticles and agencies, as follows: (the percentages, by volume beingtaken on the basis of the completed product), viz:

Pr'eservative and binder, by

' volume to 40% Fibrous material, by volume 60% to 7 5% Theseproportions can be accurately deter- I mined for any particular fiber byexamination of the finished material, for determining if the fiber isimpregnated to its full capacity without, however, carrying excess orwaste asphalt or like material. a They may be like,- wise determinedaccurately by measuring first the voids and pores in the dry, uncontracted, uncompressed fiber, secondly the degree of contraction andcompression, and thirdly adding sufiicient quantity of preserving andbinding material to bind the particles together after they haveexhausted their absorbing efiiciency measured by their contracted,compressed size.

The materials are slowly but thoroughly agitated within the drum 11, andthe steam discharging from' the fibrous "particles is drawn out of pipe20 by the action of the fan 19.

Fromtimeto time, door 22 is opened, and the hot material is run outthrough chute 21 totrucks for delivery to the previously constructedstreet base, whereit is preferably spread at a thickness ofapproximately twice the expected finished thickness. That is, forexample, it may be spread three inches thick, and it is then rolled, byordinary steam rollers, down to approximately an inch and a half inthickness. In thus compressing the material, it is preferable to use alight steam roller, and then follow with a sufficiently heavy roller forcomp eting the desired amount of compression. The thus completedproductmay be finished off with any desired sealing or other coat.

In the event the material fed through the chute 21 is not to be used atonce, it is preferable to form the material into blocks of convenientsize for handling, by slight compression applied to an ordinary balingpress; The blocks thus produced mav be stored for future use, and whenused are broken up manually or otherw se and then reheatedto a plasticstate to facilitate spreading the same sand, cement or other filler of afireproof nature, or it may be subjected to a solution of fireproofnature, before the same has cooled; or, in the event the material is notto be used at once, after emission from the chute 21 it may be baled asaforesaid, and then, after being broken up, it may be placed withinareheating machine, and in this op.- eration, sand, cement, or othermaterial may be added, to give the product added density, if desired.

What I claim is 1. The herein described process of treating fibrousmaterial which consists in subjectingthe same to a cooking or boilingoperation, removing the material from the cooker or, boiler andextracting moisture from thematerial, then subjecting the material tothe action of a hot binding and preservative agent in a vat to convertthe reing fibrous vegetable material which consists in subjecting thesame to a cooking of" boiling operation in the presence of water, for apre-determined period, then removing the material from the cooker orboiler, then while the material is hot extracting moisture from thesame, then subjecting the material to the action of a hot binding andpreservative agent in a vat to convert the remaining moisture inthe-material into steam and to impregnate the pores made "acant by theescape offthe moisture from the material with the binding andpreservative agent,

, drawing the steam vapors out of the vat during said impregnation, andfinally removing the impregnated material from the vat.

3. The herein'described process of treating fibrous vegetable material,which consists in subjecting the same to a cooking or boiling operation,removing the material fromthe cooker or boiler while hot, thenextracting the-moisture from the material while hot, then conveying thematerial through an open ended vat containing hot binding andpreservative agent to convert the remaining moisture in the materialinto steam and to impregnate the pores'of the material with the bindingand preservative agent, and drawing the steam vapors out of the vatduring said impregnation.

- 4; Theherein described process of trea'ting fibrous vegetablematerial, which consists in subjecting the same to a cooking or boilingoperation, removing the material ing the from the cooker or boiler whilehot, then extracting the moisture from the material while hot, thenconveying the material through an open ended vat containing hot bindingand preservative agent to convert the remaining moisture in the materialinto steam and to impregnate the pores of the material with the bindingand preservativeagent, drawing the steam vapors out of the vat duringsaid impregnation, and finally compressing the material.

5. The herein described process which consists in moving fibrousmaterial in a moist condition through hot asphalt in a vat so as toconvert the moisture in the material into steam and to impregnate thematerial with the asphalt during the movement of the material throughthe asphalt, drawing the steam vapors out'of the vat during saidimpregnation, and after the material has been moved through the hotasphalt and before the impregnated material cools subjecting the same topressure.

GfIn a process of treating fibrous vegetable material, formingcomminuted fibrous particles of substantially uniform thickness,

of irregular lengths and breadths, removing sap. soft, pulpy portionsand all matter soluble in water, from the particles, and impregnatingthe particles with compound of a binding nature, and compressing thesame intoshape.

7. In a process of treating fibrous vegetable material, formingcomminute'd fibrous particles of exactly uniform-thickness but ofirregular lengths and breadths, expandparticles by heat, extracting allmoisture from the particles by conveying the same through an open endedvat containing hot binding and preservative agent to expand the pores ofthe fiber, and to convert the remaining moisture in the particles intosteam and to impregnate the pores of the material with a pre-determinedquantity of binding preservative agent, drawing the steam vapors out ofthe vat during said impregnation, and then compressing the mate-.thickness,

breadths, grading the sizes of said particles rial into shape. v 8. In aprocess of treating fibrous vegetable material forming comminutedfibrous particles of hard wood of exactly uniform but of irregularlengths and from just larger than ifnpalpable dust up to three quartersof an inch in length, and mixing percentages of each size of saidparticles so that the smaller ones will, as nearly as may be, fill, thevoids between the larger particles; then conveying the same through anopen ended vat to heat the same, then do; positing the same into ahotbinding preservative agent within the vat, and agitating-the same asufiicient length of time to .expel from the particles all remainingmoisture, and to abnormally enlarge and expand and to bind the eration,

- the material into steam and to impre a preserving I particles,

the pores of the particles, to impregnate the same with a predeterminedquantity of binding preservative agent, only sufficient in quantity tocompletely fill the pores within the fibrous particles, in theirsubsequently contracted compressed condition, to surround the particles,and fill the voids between the same, I

same together; then while hot, removing the material from the vat,

and while cooling compressing the same into shape.

9. In'a process of treating fibrous vegetable material, formingcomminuted fibrous particles of substantially uniform thickness,

in their completed product,

vat during said impregnation, and v pregnated vegetable matter'while thesame i is hot, and pressing the same into shape. 10. The hereindescribed process of treat mg fibrous vegetable matter, which consistsin subjecting the same to a cooking or boiling operation, removing thematerial from the cooker or 'boiler, removing the sap and matter solublein water loosened from the material in the boiler compressingthematerial to further remove its moisture content, then conveying thematerial through anopen-ended vat containing hot binding andpreservative agent, deposited on thefibrous material in pro-determinedquantities of each, then agitating the mixture in'the presence of heattothe extent of expelling and expressing all remaining moisture from thevegetable fiber, drawing out of the vat all steam andvapors from theexpanded fibers pores and surfaces, simultaneously impregnating thepores of the material with a predetermined quantity of preservative andbinding agency, suflicient to fill the pores and voids in and betweenthe particles; then removing the mixture from the vat; then allowing thematerial to cool; then reheating the material, then mixing apre-determined quantity of sand and then compressing the mixed materialinto shape, substantiallyas described.

11. In a table'material, forming comminuted fibrous clearing the poresor interstices process of treating fibrous vegefrom the boiler, then rof the particles of sap and like soft materials, expanding. the pores byheat, impreging, with a preservative compound of a nating the expandedpores, while expandiso binding nature; then contracting the particles bycooling the mass; then reheating the material; then compressing thesame,-Whi1e hot, into shape. Y

12. A fibrous composition, comprising Vegetable fiber which has beencleared of sap and soft substances from its pores, and impregnated withpreserving material, the fiber being in the form of comminuted par- Intestimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A.- HENDERSON.

Witnesses J. RICE WARRICK, J. S. TEAY.

